Free Web NovelChapter 852: Chapter 460: Attack on the Golden Feather Flower Religious Authority Country
Louis woke up with a slight tremor, sat up from the bed, walked to the porthole, raised his hand to turn the shade open, and outside the thickened round porthole, the night had not yet faded.
The sea was as calm as if there were almost no waves, with only the occasional flying fish leaping from the water in the distance, leaving a fleeting silver line on the surface, quickly swallowed by the darkness.
The ship was sailing on a path away from the mainland battlefield.
The campaign of the Holy Eastern Empire no longer needed his personal oversight.
The frontline command had been entirely entrusted to Lambert and Gray.
The former was responsible for order and takeover, while the latter managed advancement and cleanup, each fulfilling their roles without overlap or need for repeated confirmation.
Louis stayed here because more important matters awaited him.
He withdrew his gaze, walked to the washstand, splashed his face with cold water, and his sleepiness quickly faded.
Louis raised his head and casually waved his hand in the air.
A pale blue light screen unfolded on his retina.
[Daily intelligence update completed]
[1: The First and Second Corps of the Red Tide completed their encirclement of the Holy Eastern Empire’s capital late last night.]
Louis merely glanced over it: "As expected."
This piece of intelligence had almost no informational value for him.
The rhythm, advancement route, and nodes of the entire campaign were originally deduced by him and then handed over to Gray for execution.
If the Red Tide Regular Army, equipped with Demon Marrow rifles, steam tanks, and Magic Explosion Bullets, still encountered unexpected issues against a group of disorganized and poorly armed religious forces, it would only indicate a problem with the command system itself.
He was even more concerned about the efficiency of the subsequent takeover.
"Hurry up, save some lives," Louis murmured to himself.
The text on the light screen continued to scroll.
[2: The former imperial forces led by Kaelin heavily damaged the invading forces of the Jade Federation in the Battle of Sunset Canyon and subsequently launched a counterattack, with their vanguard currently advancing into the Gem Corridor within Federation territory.]
Louis’s gaze halted, with a slight raise of his eyebrow.
When the Red Tide moved south with a clear target towards the Holy Eastern Empire, the shrewd merchant councilors of the Jade Federation evidently saw this as a rare window of opportunity. They believed that with just a little more push, they could take over that land along with its resources.
Yet, a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse; they underestimated Kaelin.
Louis exhaled lightly: "Greed indeed distorts judgment easily."
He had no intention of feeling sorry for the Federation’s losses.
The bloodletting of both sides there conveniently gave Red Tide enough time to deal with more troublesome directions.
The light screen flashed slightly, refreshing to the next entry.
[3, Due to the front line collapse, the highest council of the Jade Federation panicked and passed a resolution unanimously last night, forcibly launching the Chimera Plan to prepare for deploying artificial dragon experimental units on local battlefields.]
Louis’s breath noticeably paused: "Artificial... dragons?"
The term itself carried an inappropriately heavy weight.
Dragons had long disappeared from the continent’s history for over a thousand years, leaving only the dragon remains at Gray Rock and incomplete legends.
Were the so-called artificial dragons an alchemical patchwork abomination, or had they unearthed some ancient ruin? ƒrēewebnovel.com
Louis couldn’t immediately provide an answer, but a sense of crisis had clearly emerged.
If such a strategic unit were proven controllable, the existing power balance would be directly disrupted. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
Whether the armored forces of Red Tide had sufficient means to counter it still needed verification.
"To remain unconquered under the Empire’s shadow for a century, there must be evidence of a trump card."
Louis took a deep breath, temporarily suppressing the issue in his mind.
Wars had to be fought one at a time, and problems solved one by one.
He closed the intelligence interface, and the pale blue light screen dissipated accordingly.
Louis straightened the collar button, then pushed open the cabin door.
Outside, Weir stood guarding one side of the corridor like a statue.
The sea breeze flowed in from the ventilation vent, fluttering his cloak, but unable to shake his hand resting on the sword’s hilt.
Upon seeing Louis come out, Weir immediately stood at attention, performing a standard and restrained knight’s salute.
"Where are we, Weir?" Louis asked.
Weir turned then pointed into the distance.
Through the open cabin door, at the edge of the sea horizon, an unnatural golden halo appeared, like a boundary forcibly inserted between the sky and sea.
"Sir, the lookout tower has confirmed that it is their shield."
He paused for a moment, then added: "Ahead is the Golden Feather Flower Religious Authority Country."
Louis walked to the railing, placing his hands on the cold metal edge.
He looked at the continent’s outline shrouded in the golden light curtain, feeling an aura not belonging to the living slowly seeping from beyond that light, even across the sea.
......
Three steel giants arranged in a triangular formation steadily propelled forward.
When the bow of the Fernan broke the waves, there were no unnecessary splashes; the wave crests were directly crushed and slid along the armor shell to the sides.
The flagship Fernando was at the forefront, with the second ship, Unyielding, and the third ship, Thunderbolt, positioned left and right, maintaining a distance precise to the meter.
Behind them, thirty hunter-class destroyers and supply ships expanded in sequence, forming several stable lines of navigation, with radar and sonar continuously at work, like an invisible net, firmly enveloping the entire fleet.
And after spotting the continent, the voyage lasted not much longer before the color of the seawater began to change.
Even a newly recruited sailor on a supply ship, Billy, noticed something amiss. He held onto the railing, looking at the churning colors beneath the waves, unsure for a moment whether it was a lighting issue or if he was seeing things.
